Enhanced Area Product Method for High-Frequency Inductors and Transformers

This paper presents a novel approach to designing magnetics for high frequencies by combining the area product (AP) method with advanced loss modelling techniques. Magnetic components cannot be arbitrarily scaled down at high frequencies due to increased losses as described by the modified AP method for transformer designs to leverage constant loss density under sinusoidal excitation. This study enhances the AP method by incorporating the improved generalized Steinmetz equation (iGSE) and Dowell models to determine the optimal sizing of both transformers and inductors at high switching frequencies. The approach is validated with 2 transformer designs and 2 inductor designs. The experimental results demonstrate the proposed scaling of the transformer designs for a dual-active bridge circuit (DAB) and the inductor designs for a buck converter circuit.